Prepare Outputs
What you need to understand
Before printing you adjust page setup: orientation (portrait or landscape), paper size, margins, and scaling such as fit to one page or a percentage reduction. You should be able to set a print area so that only part of the sheet prints, and set print titles so that chosen header rows or columns repeat on every printed page.
Headers and footers can carry page numbers, the file name, the date and your own text. You must know that gridlines and row/column headings are not printed by default and must be switched on in the sheet or page-setup options, and that hidden rows, columns and worksheets do not print.
Preview the output before printing, check page breaks, then print the active sheet, selected sheets or the entire workbook. Finally, know how to export or save as PDF to distribute a fixed, non-editable version, and how to display formulas in cells (Show Formulas) in order to print the logic rather than the results.
Traps
- Printing the workbook when only one sheet was intended - check the print setting.
- Expecting gridlines to appear on paper without enabling the option.
- Forgetting that a defined print area overrides a larger selection.
- Print titles repeat headings; they do not freeze them on screen.
Rule of thumb: always use Print Preview first - it shows exactly which pages, which area and which headers and footers will be produced before any paper is used.